Rated R for pervasive strong brutal violence, language and some drug use.
Directed by Lexi Alexander
Starring Ray Stevenson and Dominic West
And I thought The Dark Knight was a “dark” superhero movie.
Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti (Dominic West). After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the “Punisher Task Force” hot on his trail, and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Castle must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.
I’m not a “fanboy” (no, I’ve never been to a Com-con), but I have really enjoyed the overwhelming majority of superhero movies over the past few years. And I like the “Punisher” character; I even liked the 2004 film. But I hated this one. There were so many scenes that made me cringe and just when I thought it was over…they pushed it further. For example, in one scene Castle pushes a criminal off a building where he is impaled by a fence. Cringe. Good enough right? Nope Castle then jumps off the building landing his foot on the guy’s throat extending both the spikes through his chest and his neck.
I wish they would have spent more time developing this really cool comic book character, but instead they clearly spent all of their time thinking of ways to kill and maim human beings.
I have two words to describe Punisher: War Zone… “Overkill” and “Coaster.”
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Punisher: War Zone got an R-rating for pervasive strong brutal violence and no way should younger kids see it.
Side Note:
As said above, we recommend you skip this film. But on the occasion that your teen actually has already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
